Damascus boy, 11, inspires bone marrow drive

Kehilat Shalom rallies behind youth

Daniel Eisig (center) is undergoing treatment for leukemia at Johns Hopkins University hospital in Baltimore. With him, from left, is brother Zach, sister Stephanie and friend Ben Pikovsky.

Like with most leukemia patients, no one in Daniel Eisig's family had matching bone marrow for a transplant. So the Damascus family turned to the National Marrow Donor Program's national registry last year after 11-year-old Daniel's diagnosis. After waiting a month, a match came through: a newborn in 2007 had donated its umbilical cord.

Following the transplant at Johns Hopkins University in December, treatments and monitoring have kept Daniel in Baltimore. His mother Sandi lives in Hopkins housing during the week; father Bill takes the weekend shift.

Help has been coming from all directions — from neighbors who showed up at the Eisig's door with dinner; from Daniel's teachers at Woodfield Elementary, who kept him up with schoolwork and offered help over the summer; and from fellow members at Kehilat Shalom Temple in Montgomery Village, who have organized a bone marrow screening later this month in Daniel's honor.

"The school and the teachers have been phenomenal," Bill Eisig said. "Our neighbors have been great, everybody has been great. We've been very fortunate to live in the community that we do."

Kehilat Shalom announced a marrow drive last year, before Daniel's diagnosis. Once Daniel got sick, family friend David Pikovsky decided to give the drive a little push.

Pikovsky of Clarksburg has been coordinating with upcounty schools and their surrounding neighborhoods, through the temple's listserv and the Germantown Athletic Club, of which he is a board member. Action in Montgomery is helping with fliers.

Their motto: "Daniel got his; now let's get other people theirs." And the inspiration: even the smallest act can have the hugest impact, Pikovsky said.

"It's definitely Daniel," he said. "You see how remarkable it is, how it's so simple and it can save somebody's life — and in a lot of cases, it's kids."

Thanks to recent advances, all it takes to be screened to be a marrow donor is filling out a few forms and a swab of the cheek. The screening is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 29 at Kehilat Shalom, 9915 Apple Ridge Road in Montgomery Village. For more information, including medical forms to fill out ahead of time, e-mail donor@kehilatshalom.org or marrowdonor@kehilatshalom.org. Event organizers are asking donors to make a $36 donation to help defray costs.

Daniel, meanwhile, is faring well.

He has to stay in Baltimore until 100 days after the transplant.

"Medically he's doing great," said Bill Eisig. "He's taking a lot of medications and has to go back to the hospital for treatments, but he's really lucky, he's doing really well."

Day 100 is April 5.

After April 5, Daniel will be on a "limited regimen" through Day 180. That could put Daniel in the clear to go to a cousin's wedding in July — and maybe even make it to the pool to catch the end of the Damascus Dolphins' summer season.

More than anything, he is an animal lover.

He named the three family dogs — Lulu, Mya and Jo-Jo — has a tortoise and wants a hedgehog.

"He's been plotting to get more pets. The first thing he'll probably try to do is to get me to buy him another dog," said Bill Eisig. "He would turn the house into a zoo if we let him."

Another county native who is battling cancer is Olney native Marc Gold, 25. Gold was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in mid-January, and has spent most of his time in the hospital since then, according to his aunt, P.J. Himelfarb.

Meanwhile, Gold's father is battling pancreatic cancer.

A graduate of Sherwood High School and Columbia University, Gold was diagnosed with leukemia while working in New Jersey for the Educational Testing Service, a non-profit group that provides educational research and assessments. The leukemia was discovered during routine blood-testing, Himelfarb said.

Gold is in need of a bone marrow transplant, and his family is searching for a match. His best hope lies within fellow members of the Ashkenazi Jewish community, though anyone could be a possible match. The family is organizing two bone marrow drives — from 10 a.m. to 1p.m. Sunday at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, 6125 Montrose Road in Rockville; and from 1-4 p.m. at Precision Health and Fitness, 6500 Rock Spring Drive, Suite 120 in Bethesda.

Kehilat Shalom is hosting a bone marrow screening from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 29 at the temple, 9915 Apple Ridge Road in Montgomery Village. The medical questionnaire can be filled out ahead of time by e-mailing donor@kehilatshalom.org or marrowdonor@kehilatshalom.org. Event coordinators are asking donors to make a $36 donation.

Marc Gold's bone marrow drives are from 10 a.m. to 1p.m. Sunday at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, 6125 Montrose Road in Rockville; and from 1-4 p.m. at Precision Health and Fitness, 6500 Rock Spring Drive, Suite 120 in Bethesda.